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THE 

PAST AND FUTURE OF BUFFALO. 



A PAPER 



READ BEFORE THE 



AMERICAN BANKERS' ASSOCIATION, 



At Niagara Falls, August io, i 88 1 



By HENRY MARTIN, 

President of the Manufacturers and Traders' Bank of Buffalo. 



BUFFALO: 
THE COURIER COMPANY, PRINTERS. 

1881. 



r 



THE 

PAST AND FUTURE OF BUFFALO. 



A PAPE R 



READ BEFORE THE 



AMERICAN BANKERS' ASSOCIATION, 



At Niagara Falls, August 10, 1881, 



By HENRY MARTIN, 

President of the Manufacturers and Traders' Bank of Buffalo. 



BUFFALO: 
THE COURIER COMPANY, PRINTERS. 



9 5^1^ 



THE PAST AND FUTURE OF BUFFALO. 



The following brief outline of the commercial growth of Buffalo, 
may be interesting, showing as it does the rapid progress made in 
the past few years, and foreshadows the future destiny of the " Queen 
City of the Lakes." Buffalo has passed through many long and 
painful struggles for commercial existence, and at times such adver- 
sity was experienced as endangered her prosperity, not only from 
deficiency of capital, but from the torpor or apathy of her residents. 

These drawbacks have nearly all been removed, and it is to be 
hoped that our city has entered upon what may be a long period of 
progress. The influence of this new and enterprising spirit is now 
being felt with substantial results to our city's welfare. Buffalo's 
advantageous position, at the foot of the inland lakes, its railroads 
stretching out in every direction, its fleets of propellers and sail ves- 
sels, its diversified manufactures, its admirable and well managed 
public institutions, its great religious and social advantages, its well 
known salubrity of climate, all tend to increase its commercial 
prosperity. 

The aggregate receipts of grain at Buffalo during the year 1880 
were 175,000,000 bushels. The receipts by lake in 1836 were only 
1,239,351 bushels; in 1846, 13,366,168 bushels; in 1856, 25,753,967 
bushels; in 1866, 53,288,087 bushels; in 1877, 65,199,291 bushels; 
and in 1880 they reached to the large quantity of 112,042,927 
bushels. 

The tonnage of cement, salt, railroad iron, besides miscellaneous 
articles, exported west by lake, has correspondingly increased, and 
is in the aggregate immense. No grain was received here until 1835 ; 
previously flour, grain, pork, etc., were sent westward from Buffalo for 
the early settlers. In 1838 the first cargo of grain reached here from 
Chicago, the pioneer load of present immense business. There are 
four large steamboat lines plying between this port and western points, 
their combined fleets numbering fifty-two vessels, varying from 1,650 



4 THE PAST AND FUTURE OF BUFFALO. 

to 2,200 tonnage. To these must be added the tonnage of the smaller 
lines and of the vessels run by individuals. In 1855 the average 
wheat-carrying capacity of a sail vessel was from 16,000 to 18,000 
bushels; in 1865, 25,0001030,000 bushels; in 1875, 40,000 to 50,000 
bushels, and now 50,000 to 70,000 bushels. The largest sail vessel 
now on the lakes carries 2,300 tons of freight. In 1855 the average 
wheat-carrying capacity of a propeller was 18,000 bushels; in 1865, 
25,000 to 30,000 bushels; in 1875, 40,000 to 50,000 bushels, and now 
from 70,000 to 80,000 bushels. The largest propeller lately brought 
to this port 2,648 tons of freight. 

Ship-building was carried on to a very great extent many years 
ago, but through labor troubles declined. The past few years have 
witnessed a healthy revival of the trade, and our facilities are now 
being pushed to their fullest extent. Iron ship-building was com- 
menced in 1862. Since then many splendid vessels have been built 
here, and new and improved machinery is now being erected to 
make this business a permanent one. Nearly all the new mammoth 
steam craft that have been built the past two years, and that are now 
building, are of iron. 

The first American vessel reported built on Lake Erie was con- 
structed at Four-mile Creek, near Erie, Pa., in 1797, and was called 
the Washington. It is said that in 1843 the first freight propeller 
was built called the Hercules. The propeller and consort system 
was first established in 1870, and has become a great factor in solv- 
ing the question of cheap transportation. The total tonnage of the 
arrivals and clearances at this port in 1852 were 3,092,247 tons. Last 
year it reached 5,995,747 tons. The tonnage of this port of all kinds, 
not including canal-boats, comprised on the 30th of June, 1880, 212 
vessels of 99,543 tons. The receipts at the custom house are steadily 
increasing — in 1878, $441,41 1; in 1879,1518,502; in 1880, $765,947. 

Great improvement has been effected during the past twenty-five 
years in facilitating here the movement of our marine commerce by 
the erection of lighthouses, the construction of piers, harbors and 
breakwaters, deepening the river and cutting slips, building elevators, 
floaters, and chutes for handling coal. A life-saving station has been 
established, with all the latest appliances. The signal service has 
worked greatly to the advantage of our vessel interests. In 1847 
valuable improvements in our harbor facilities were afforded by the 
commencement of the construction of the Erie and Ohio basins, and 
the Blackwell Canal and connecting slips. In 1825 the great inland 



THE PAST AND FUTURE OF BUFFALO. 5 

State water-way, the Erie Canal, was completed, with a depth of three 
and a half to four feet of water. Boats 78 feet long, 14 feet wide, 
and of 75 tons burthen, then floated on its channel. On the enlarge- 
ment in 1862, to the present time, seven feet of water were obtained. 
The boats are now 96 feet long, 17 feet wide, and from 225 to 240 
tons burthen. Double locks were commenced and completed the 
whole length of the canal in 1875. The modes of propulsion are by 
steam, mule and horse-power, and the Belgian Cable System of 
towing. 

The yearly cereal movement on the canal varies considerably 
according to the amount of agricultural products raised. A com- 
parison of the total tonnage, and the value of all articles of merchan- 
dise for a few years may be of interest : 

Tonnage. Value. 

Eastern movement, i860 1,113,754 $24,412,883 

Eastern movement, 1870 1,303,904 37,333,2o8 

Eastern movement, 1880 2,286,992 59.539,048 

Western movement, i860 246,184 Not rep'd. 

Western movement, 1870 633,849 29,591,501 

Western movement, 1880 557,604 33,692,510 

The following statement shows the export of grain by the canal 
for a series of years : 

Bushels. 

1S66 44,792,233 

1870 29,813,236 

1S74 41,232,744 

1880 71,547,115 

The number of days of canal navigation during the past ten years 
varied from 197 to 237. With a free canal doubtless there would be 
a very large increase of traffic, conducive to the welfare of our local 
interests as well as to that of the State generally. 

Among our many important business interests, a reference to our 
coal trade must be made. The receipts here in 1852 were only 
60,000 tons; in 1869, 299,914 tons; last year (1880) 1,813,095 tons. 
In 1 86 1 the first anthracite coal company doing business here had 
great difficulty in disposing of 25,000 tons during the season. Now 
new avenues are being opened to the mines, and all the large com- 
panies have their depots at this point, which is destined to be the 
great distributing central station. The handling of coal by means 



6 THE PAST AND FUTURE OF BUFFALO. 

of the chutes is performed with almost marvelous rapidity, and the 
labor of days is now only the work of a few hours. 

The first of the great labor-saving institutions, the grain elevator, 
was built here in 1843, with a capacity of 55,000 bushels storage, and 
15,000 bushels daily transfer. Now there are thirty-six elevators, 
transfer elevators and floaters on the Buffalo River, with a united, 
capacity of 8,208,000 bushels, and 3,216,000 bushels transfer. The 
estimated value of the property is $6,000,000. 

The International Bridge, commenced in May, 1870, was com- 
pleted at a cost of $1,500,000 in gold, and opened November 3, 1873. 
The length of the bridge and approaches is 3,630 feet. The traffic 
over this bridge is immense. 

The first railroad terminating in this city was the Attica and 
Buffalo Railroad, which was opened for traffic on January 8, 1843. 
In 1854 seven roads had their depots here. Now there are sixteen, 
and more coming within this and next year. 

The growth of the live stock trade can be readily seen by the fol- 
lowing figures: Receipts in 1857 were 108,203 cattle, 117,168 hogs, 
and 307,549 sheep; in 18S0, 786,386 cattle, 2,251,815 hogs, 1,033,200 
sheep, and 20,768 horses. The East Buffalo yard for the accommo- 
dation of the stock covers fifty-two acres of ground, well paved and 
watered, and provided with large sheds ; also chutes for loading and 
unloading the cars. 

The Board of Trade was organized in 1844 and incorporated in 
1857. It has exercised an important influence by affording strong 
arguments and material statistical aid towards promoting the ex-ten- 
sion of our business enterprises, and by suggesting and watching 
legislation bearing upon our canal and other commerce. A com- 
mittee is now at work selecting a site for the building of a handsome 
and suitable edifice for the future meeting of its members. 

Until a few years since our capitalists' attention was absorbed by 
our lake and canal commerce, especially grain. Now manufacturing 
interests and industries of every kind receive all the help they require 
from our banks. They are fostered and encouraged in every way 
with gratifying results. Asa location for manufacturing capital, our 
city has now scarcely any superior. It is with emotions of pride and 
gratification that we discern the evidences of our city's healthy and 
vigorous growth. New enterprises are being started, railroads multi- 
plying, and manufactories steadily increasing. The admirable loca- 
tion of Buffalo for manufacturing, and the necessity for diversified 



THE PAST AND FUTURE OF BUFFALO. 7 

industries, have induced our capitalists to invest large amounts of 
money in furnaces, rolling-mills, and factories of various kinds. Trre 
peculiar climate enables the workmen to labor with less fatigue and 
perform a good day's work in the hours allotted. With the lakes 
stretching to the westward and the canal to the eastward, together 
with the railroad facilities to all points, means are furnished for ship- 
ping manufactured products to all parts of the country and the 
Dominion of Canada at low rates of freight. Coal, coke and iron 
can be laid down here at minimum rates. 

The stove works located here are the largest in the world. The 
iron, nail and malleable iron works, the planing-mills, the starch and 
grape sugar works, and soap factories, chemical works, and fer- 
tilizer works are among the largest of the kind in the country. To 
these must be added car-wheel works, the marine and other engine 
works, iron bridge building, the manufactories of water-mains and 
gas-pipes, chairs, nuts and bolts, and mill-furnishing goods, threshing 
and reaping machines, and all kinds of agricultural implements, 
freight cars, scales, etc., etc. 

The malting interest is a very important one ; twenty-eight malt 
houses were in operation last year, turning out over 3,000,000 bushels 
of malt. 

Heretofore the discrimination in freights on oil to Cleveland has 
worked unfavorably for our interests here. But now with two pipe- 
lines and our facilities for refining, we are in a condition to compete 
with any other city. The Buffalo and Rock City Pipe-line Company 
extends from Rock City, Cattaraugus county, to Buffalo; pipe four 
inches in diameter, and capable of delivering 5,000 barrels per day. 
The Atlas Refining Company has a capacity of 1,000 to 2,000 barrels 
per day. And in addition to these are the Star Oil Company and 
several others doing a large business. 

The leather trade is also a very important feature, particularly 
hemlock sole leather, in which Buffalo is acknowledged to take the 
lead in regard to quality. The estimated value of leather manu- 
factured here of all kinds is as follows : 

Harness and Upper Leather $1,000,000 

Leather for Belting 400,000 

Sole Leather 4,000,000 

Sheepskins 1,000,000 

Boots and shoes are also extensively manufactured. The produc- 
tion will aggregate nearly $1,500,000 per annum, and this business is 
constantly increasing. 



8 THE PAST AND FUTURE OF BUFFALO. 

In 1850 there were twelve banks, with a capital of $1,495,000. In 
1 88 1 there are eleven banks, capital $3,000,000, as follows : 

Manufacturers and Traders' $900,000 

Farmers and Mechanics' National 200,000 

Bank of Attica 250,000 

Bank of Buffalo 300,000 

Bank of Commerce 200,000 

Merchants' Bank of Buffalo 300,000 

German Bank of Buffalo 100,000 

Marine Bank 200,000 

First National Bank of Buffalo 100,000 

White's Bank of Buffalo 200,000 

Third National Bank 250,000 



Total $3,000,000 

Besides, there are four savings banks, having on the first of 
January, 1881, as follows: 

Erie County $10,013,090.00 from 30,074 depositors. 

Western 2,335,716.98 " 4,274 " 

National 1,077,371.74 " 2,841 " 

Buffalo 7,628,000.15 " 20,744 " 



Total $21,054,178.87 57,933 

There are now incorporated a dime savings bank and a safety 
deposit and trust company. 

We have three insurance companies, viz., the Buffalo German, the 
Buffalo, and the Union, with an aggregate capital of $500,000 and 
assets amounting to $1,281,937.26. 

The bank and insurance buildings are well and substantially built, 
and are an ornament to the city, as are also the public buildings, 
particularly the City and County Hall, which is looked upon as a 
model of architecture. 

Buffalo has as good if not the best fire and police departments in 
the country, and its public and private schools, colleges, libraries, 
etc., are not excelled by any other city. 

Its parks and driveways are among the most extensive and diver- 
sified in the country, reaching nearly around the city. 

And, in conclusion, we trust that the " Queen City of the Lakes," 
which, with a steady and stable growth, has reached a population of 
over 160,000, with its healthy climate, its unlimited supply of pure 
water, and its vast facilities for transportation, will have a long and 
continued era of growth and prosperity. 



THE PAST AND FUTURE OF BUFFALO. 



THE PAST AND FUTURE OF BUFFALO. 

[From the Buffalo Daily Courier, August II, i88i.~\ 

The paper prepared for the Bankers' Convention by Mr. Henry Martin, Presi- 
dent of the Manufacturers and Traders' Bank, on the growth and prosperity of 
the city of Buffalo during the last twenty-five years, and made a part of yesterday's 
proceedings, is a noteworthy document, and its appearance may well be deemed 
to mark an epoch in the progress of the material interests of our city. The main 
scope and intention of the paper are, by an interesting and comprehensive pre- 
sentment of facts and figures bearing upon the growth and advancement of our 
city, to bring into full and prominent view the Buffalo of to-day as distinguished 
from the Buffalo of the decade which followed upon the close of the first half of 
the century. In the retrospect which is thus made, and in the inevitable compari- 
sons which go along with it, we are able to trace in a plainer light the nature of 
the mistakes which have been made in the past, as well as the clear opening which 
now apparently presents itself looking towards a future of business prosperity 
founded on conditions of the most permanent and stable nature. 

The view taken by the early founders of the city was apparently that of simple 
confidence in the strength of the natural advantages conferred by geographical 
position, and for a long period in the city's career it might be said that the oriental 
view prevailed that God had made Buffalo a great city by placing it at the foot of 
the chain of lakes, and that our citizens had but calmly and patiently to await their 
high destiny without any too serious struggle or effort of their own to advance it or 
bring it finally about. 

With the completion of the Erie Canal in 1825 it was believed that all the con- 
ditions required in order that Buffalo should merit its title of " Queen City of the 
Lakes," had been fulfilled ; and yet, with the Erie Canal in operation during a full 
quarter of a century, the city in 1850 had grown to be but one step in size beyond 
a village, its population being but 42,261. Soon after the opening of the second 
half of the century two great hostile enterprises were carried to completion, each 
of which involved a serious attack on the claims and prestige of Buffalo : the west- 
ern terminus of the Erie Railway was made at Dunkirk with the view of develop- 
ing into importance such facilities as that place afforded for the purposes of a 
harbor and port of transshipment in the general eastward and westward movement 
of freight and passengers ; and the Welland Canal, effectually enlarged, was made 
into a highway for the carriage of goods, its projectors thus seeking a reversal of 
the decree which, by giving to the Niagara River its marvel of beauty in the great 
cataract, had seemed to ordain for all time that so far as pertained to the uses and 
ends of commerce the waters of the great inland seas should not flow down beyond 
our docks and piers. Another direct blow at the rights of Buffalo as a distributing 
point between the east and the west was given a little later in order of time in the 
construction of the Great Western Railway of Canada, and in the laying of a con- 
necting branch of the Central road direct from Suspension Bridge to Rochester. In 



IO THE PAST AND FUTURE OF BUFFALO. 

respect to the current of railway travel which continued for many years to pass 
over these roads, the position of Rochester was aggrandized, and Buffalo was 
accorded privileges scarcely equal to those of a common way station. All the while 
that consequences adverse to the prosperity of our city were being worked out 
from the enterprises which have been mentioned and others of less import, the great 
facts of nature existing to our advantage were necessarily remaining as before ; yet 
for a long period there seemed to be among those who were the leaders in our 
business interests a want of grasp to bring into activity in our behalf the elements 
of commercial power which from the first have never been absent. Even in bring- 
ing about the results which are the logical due of a lake port and railroad center 
in propinquity with the Pennsylvania oil regions, Cleveland, with advantages infe- 
rior to our own, has been before us in the quick and facile adaptation of means to 
ends which are also perfectly and surely at our command. Nevertheless, since the 
year 1850 the population of Buffalo has quadrupled, and the last twenty years have 
been exceedingly fruitful in the development of a net-work of railways for reaching 
out into the deposits of coal and oil which lie relatively near to our hand — immeas- 
urable and inexhaustible sources of commercial wealth. The statistics which are 
given in the paper to which we invite attention relative to the extent to which Buf- 
falo has become a port for the reception and transshipment of coal possess great 
significance. The completion also of the pipe-lines, which produce an effect in the 
transmission of a ponderous commodity almost analogous to the marvel wrought 
by the telephone in the carriage of intelligence, merits prominent mention. The 
building of the international bridge and bringing into the city of the lines of rail- 
way which cross it were necessary measures of self-protection which were put into 
execution none too soon. And the active spirit of railroad enterprise which has 
been on foot within the present year, involving schemes and connections of the 
most broad-reaching scope, are a substantial sign and pledge of a large and brill- 
iant further advance in the general prosperity. 

Now, what, to sum up in brief, are the distinctive advantages which Buffalo 
possesses at the present time, and which give it the promise of a progress • more 
pronounced in the near future than it has as yet achieved ? The kind of nearness 
which, as the result of the enterprise and public spirit of our citizens, we now have 
to the fields of coal and oil which lie behind us, has been referred to. The facilities, 
natural and artificial, of lake and canal, come to possess more and more of signifi- 
cance practically as the process of development goes on which rounds out to them 
an employment. Chief among our choice endowments must be considered nature's 
gift of an unparalleled climate. The labor of men can here be brought to its full 
capacity more days in the year than in any other city of the American Union. 
Consider for a moment the disparity in this respect between Buffalo and any city 
lying under the dog-star, as, for instance, Cincinnati. We quote from Appleton's 
American Cyclopedia that " according to a report on vital statistics for 1872, Buf- 
falo was the healthiest city in the United States, the death-rate being only 13.9 per 
1,000." Such, moreover, is the extent of our city, its surface so broadly spread out, 
that the soil is cheap, and substantial homes for working men may be owned by 
them at a minimum of cost. Taxation, which is the great incubus on the prosper- 
ity of American cities, is more likely to decline in the future than to increase, as 
many of the great objects of municipal outlay have been already provided for, and 



THE PAST AND FUTURE OF BUFFALO. II 

the process of reducing the debt has been fairly begun. There is much in our sur- 
roundings and location to furnish attraction to the working man. The resources of 
the lake and river, and of Tree parks and libraries are at his command to beguile 
with delicious pleasures the hours of rest and recreation. A system of public 
schools is in operation for the instruction of the youth which will compare favora- 
bly with that of any other town of similar size. "Whether the point of view be that 
of the capitalist or of the laboring man, the conditions for commanding favor are 
equally propitious. Our need is that capital should be inspired with the confidence 
in the coming great future of Buffalo which the facts and figures which have been 
collected and presented go very far to justify, and the able and veteran banker who 
has taken the pains upon him at this time to prepare and present this valuable and 
interesting paper to a convention composed of men who are in large measure the 
representatives of the capital of the country, has done for the interests of our city 
an important and welcome service. 

LOFC. 



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